#Asia by Desmond Lua
This is a place for cheap sushi, ranging from 100 yen to 600 yen per plate. I have tasted more premium sushi, where they are softer and melt in your mouth. Sushi here are good, probably better than the ones in Malaysia, quite a few fish options, so definitely value for money.
We ordered about 17 plates, ordered only plates which are less than 300 yen and we ended up with 2500 yen for 2 person.
A pretty good fruit pie French dessert restaurant for about 700 yen a piece. We went for pear and potato, each with different crust and taste delicious. Thought of getting another one, but having too much spoilt the appetite.
Sitting space is limited, but no much crowded at 7pm (dinner time, the shop closed at 8pm). Many came for takeaway until the last minute.
It is peak autumn at Mount Takao, just an hour out from Tokyo. This is a pretty touristy place, means good transport, plenty of food and restaurant.
There are some marvelous red leaves just in front of the station. We took the tram up, where the path are covered by red autumn trees. You could walk as well, but we are short on time.
It is another 30-60 minutes walk up the peak depending on which path you take. We took no 3.
The weather is perfect today, and we can see all the mountains. Fuji is slightly hidden with clouds at its top. Unpack our lunch from a bakery and enjoy the view. There is a restaurant up there as well.
We went back on route no 1 and pass by a temple. Just in time for the last chair lift decent at 4.30pm and the sky starts to get dark.
The museum is not a big place, mainly 3 floors and a rooftop. The ground floor is exhibition, which is pretty interesting. Second floor is exhibition of work area and how animation are made. Third floor is a Cat Bus play area for little children (why can't adult have fun too) and a small shop. Roof top is a garden with Giant Robot from Laputa. And there is an outdoor restaurant with quite a long queue.
We are lucky to booked an online ticket for 1000 yen per person, which is quite a challenge.
The is a dedicated yellow Ghibli bus at Mitika Station south exit, and get down from the left stairs.
Ginkgo colours at it's peak. They even closed the road at some point to allow tourists to roam on the road freely.
Personally, the Shiratani trail is more beautiful than the Jomon Sugi trail. If you have time, do both. Else, Shiratani is an easier and nicer trail, with many big cedar trees as well.
Good thing about Yakushima trail is that you don't need good weather as most of the trail are within the forest with little opportunity to view the landscape of nearby mountains (except Toikawa Rock). If fact, the moss gets more vibrant after a rain.
We did the Bugyosugi Cedar Course plus Toikawa Rock loop, which should take 4 hours, but we spend the entire day in Shiratani (from 8am) and left on the last bus at 4.10pm.
This is a pretty small place, with the main attraction is the section of the gorge with waterfall. The place for boating is narrow and limited, and walking trail is pretty short.
We get up close to the crater to view loads of poisonous gas spitting out from the crater, and occasionally you can view the blue color water at the bottom of the crater.
The crater is pretty sensitive, as you might have to wait until the gas level is low enough to have a safe viewing near the edge of the crater.
The walking path around the crater is off limit during my visit.
Going to Canal City Hakata, they have a musical water fountain and light show going on occasionally.
The best part of the garden is Koi watching, which can only be done outside of the tea room (do we didn't go for the tea). Entrance is 200 yen.
It is a few old street and a canal, a tourist spot with some boutique shop. I would say the experience is only average.
Soft cheese pancake breakfast, nice. Other options are simple but nice.
软绵绵乳酪Pancake, 好吃不腻。其他早点也不错。
Hiking Mount Hiei from Sakamoto. The hike is only an hour, and there is an UNESCO temple complex at the top. Autumn had yet to turn much within the forest, but there are a few full peak maple tree near the temple.
We went up pretty late so have to give up on the plan to hike down on Kyoto side, so we take the cable car down instead.
Data Sim Card at Kansai Airport. A 30 days 3GB sim card can range from 4000 yen to 9000 yen. I pickup at TRE (3GB 30 days) at JAL counter for 4500 yen. Saw another similar package selling for 4000 yen at the vending machine.
PS: Cheaper options are available in town, selling at places like BIC Camera.
The meal is good, but it seems to be more expensive (RM 49 for set meal for two with the cheesy bite pizza).